“Cara…”
“Stop,” she cuts me off. “You tricked me.” She’s practically shaking with fury.
“I should have known. Here I thought I knew what I was doing, but no. The ultimate player never gets played, does he? Not Liam fucking Donovan. Fucking king of the world. You’re a fucking heartless bastard. Women are nothing but disposable to you, aren’t they? Just a piece of ass for you to use to get off with, then you toss them aside for the next flavor of the week.” She gives me a mocking smile. “Oh, excuse me. Flavor of the day.”
She lets out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, I guess things were different with me. You wanted to string me along and play your games with me for more than one night. I guess I should feel honored, right? Privileged. Lucky that Liam Donovan deemed me worthy of using his magic cock on me for more than one night?” She scoffs. “Well, guess what, Liam? You think you’re so special? God’s gift to women and all that shit? You’re not. You’re nothing but a pathetic overgrown kid who’s too afraid of anything real to let himself be with the same woman more than once.”
I want to tell her she’s wrong. That might have been me. But not anymore. Because she’s changed me. She’s made me want something more. Something real. With her.
But she’s not done yet.
“I’m disgusted by you,” she rails, her lips lifting in a sneer. “I should have never agreed to this job. I deal with men like you every day of the week. But you know what? You’re worse than they are. Because you manipulated me on purpose. You went into this knowing what you were doing.”
I can feel my blood pressure rising with every word she says. The rational part of my brain knows that she’s just lashing out because she’s hurt. She cares for me too, despite everything she’s saying. There’s no way either of us could have faked the magic between us this past week. But I’ll be damned if I let anyone—and I mean anyone—talk to me the way she’s talking to me right now.
Everything I’ve said just now has had the opposite effect of what I intended, so for once in my life, I keep my fucking mouth shut.
I love her. I know it. But I won’t do this with her.
So I grab my clothes and put them on as fast as I can and spin on my heel and stalk toward her door without a backward glance, slamming it behind me on the way out.
Cara
“GO AWAY!” I shout, digging into my ice cream bucket with the spoon and then shoving it into my mouth. Swallowing at once, I feel the cold spreading from my throat to my brain, and then I just reach for the bottle of vodka sitting on my side and take it to my lips. Throwing my head back, I chug heartily and then wipe my hand with the back of my hand.
“Cara, c’mon! Open up!” Renee shouts from outside my apartment, knocking against the door, this time harder than before. Judging by the sound of it, she has already resorted to using her fists against my door. Well, tough luck - I don’t care what she does, but I’m not opening that door.
Yeah, I’m drunk right now. So what? I think I’ve earned the right to be just a little drunk, haven’t I? After all, I got into a huge fight with the only man that I’ve ever loved, and I found out that my best friend has lied to me.
“Please, Cara!” Renee insists, “I’m your friend, let me in!”
“My friend?” I jump up to my feet and walk toward the door in a hurried step. Without opening it, I raise my voice so that Renee can hear me. “I don’t remember having a backstabbing friend!”
“I didn’t -- ah, come on, Cara! Let me in or I’ll have to kick the door down.”
“Pfft. As if you could,” I scoff, turning my back to the door.
“No, but I’ll keep kicking until everyone in this building comes to help me out!” She raises her voice now, and I sigh - okay, she wins this round. Walking back to the door, I turn the handle and step back to allow Renee in.
“Someone’s having a party,” she tells me with one raised eyebrow, her eyes j
umping from the ice cream bucket to the bottle of vodka.
“Yes, that’s right. I’m having a party and you’re not invited,” I tell her, that pissed off tone still coating my words, and then sink down on my couch. I reach for the vodka and take another swig in two long gulps. “And I’m not sharing any of this,” I continue, clutching the bottle against my chest, the room slowly starting to spin.
“Look, Cara… I’m sorry,” Renee says, sitting down by my side and looking me in the eyes. “I just thought… I don’t know Cara, I just don’t think that living as an hermit slash workaholic is doing you any good.”
“I’m not a --” I stop, an hiccup jumping between my words. “I’m not an hermiwhatever, I’m a very successful businesswoman!” I manage to continue, waving the bottle around as I gesticulate. “I break men’s hearts and grind them into flour!”
“Ah, Cara… I’m sorry, I really am. I was just trying to help.”
“I know,” I whisper, my rational side sobering up for a moment. Looking at Renee, I offer her the bottle; she looks at it apprehensively, but then takes it from my hands and brings it up to her lips.
“You would have never accepted to go out with Liam… This was the only way,” she continues, but the way her tone of voice changes tells me that if she could go back in time she’d do things differently. “I never wanted anyone to get hurt… But I screwed up,” she says, taking the bottle to her lips again and chugging the vodka happily.
“Hey, leave some for me,” I say, stealing the bottle from her and pressing it against my chest. “You’re right, though… I would have never accepted to go out with Liam. I don’t do dates, I don’t do love, I don’t do anything. You must think I’m pathetic.”
“Of course not, Cara. You’re the smartest woman I’ve ever met, and you’re also the bravest… You’re everything but pathetic. But when it comes to men, you --”